The present invention relates to a container for conveying a pulverized or granular material.
Heretofore, a container for conveying reduced iron as shown in FIG. 1 has been known. This container has such structure that a charging port 02 is provided at the top of a container vessel 01, a discharging port 03 is provided at the bottom thereof, and the charging port 02 and discharging port 03 are adapted to be opened and closed by means of a vertically movable charging bell 04 and a discharging bell 05, respectively. Reference numeral 06 designates a drive rod for the charging bell 04, numeral 07 designates a drive rod for the discharging bell 05, and these drive rods have a double-shaft structure.
It is to be noted that reduced iron is liable to be oxidized and if it should be oxidized its commercial value would be lost. Especially, in the case where a so-called hot discharge is employed in which reduced iron is extracted under a high-temperature condition from a shaft furnace, the activity of air on the reduced iron is high, and hence the reduced iron is even more liable to be oxidized. Accordingly, in the event of conveying reduced iron, provision must be made such that contact between the reduced iron and air may be minimized.
However, the above-mentioned heretofore known container has a shortcoming that due to the existence of two opening sections for charging and for discharging, the reduced iron was apt to come into contact with air. Moreover, the heretofore known container also has a shortcoming that due to the double shaft structure of the opening/closing mechanism for the opening sections, the structure of the container is complex.